An Ordinary Life
by TheDarkWraith
Summary: After the cure, what lies ahead for Rogue?


**AN ORDINARY LIFE**

**A New Day**

Rogue had just exited the clinic when she heard someone call her name. She turned around and saw a familiar face walking towards her. It was David Caine, former agent for SHIELD, frequent guest to Professor Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Children, and one of the few non-mutants whom she trusted as much as her fellow X-Men.

"Well, now, David Caine—what brings you here?" she asked.

"Just keeping an eye on things, Anne Marie," he replied. "One of the government anti-mutagen clinics got firebombed this morning—"

"I know," she said. "I was there."

"Is that right? Thank goodness you weren't hurt." He sighed. "Too bad I can't say the same for a lot of other metas and medics."

"How many were hurt?"

"A lot. And not all of them are expected to survive." David scanned the surroundings. "There was a description of the person responsible for the firebombing and it looks very much like your former schoolmate John."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Rogue said. "Have you been assigned to find him?"

"No," David said. "I've been keeping my distance from all this 'mutant cure' business. Personally, I don't think being a meta is like being infected with a disease."

"I know," Rogue said. "You've always treated folks like us no different from other people."

"That's because you're not. Speaking of which…were you—?" David nodded in the direction of the clinic.

Rogue nodded. She didn't need to tell him why; they knew each other well enough.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"I don't know…I was expecting to feel something…different…but right now, I don't feel a thing," she replied.

"Well, tell you what, Anne Marie—suppose we take a walk or something like that?" David suggested. "I'm not on duty, after all."

Rogue thought about it. She didn't feel like going back the school just yet; although she wasn't expecting any company, now that someone wanted to spend the day with her, she couldn't see how she could refuse.

"Okay," she finally told him.

"Excellent," he said with a smile. "Come on." He automatically took her hand. She flinched slightly but then realized that she no longer had her powers. Or so she hoped.

"You don't have to take your gloves off just yet if you don't feel like it," David told her.

"Thanks," she said. Holding hands with him while they were walking made Rogue think about Bobby for a brief moment but that image was replaced by the memory of seeing him and Kitty together.

They wound upat a nearby park. Rogue couldn't help but watch the people around her, tossing Frisbees, skating, having picnics—going about lives that would have seemed ordinary but to her seemed so new and unfamiliar.

A ball bounced in front of them and came to rest at her feet. She picked it up and saw a little girl running towards her. She stopped and looked up at Rogue. "May I have my ball back, please, ma'am?" the little girl said to her.

Rogue looked at David. "You heard her, Anne Marie," he told her. "Give her the ball."

Rogue looked down at the little girl. Her hands were outstretched and waiting expectantly, with a smile that was only a wee bit uncertain on her face. Rogue handed the ball to David for a moment. He watched her as she took off her gloves. He handed the ball back to her wordlessly.

Rogue bent down to the little girl's level. "What's your name?" she asked her.

"Marian," the little girl replied.

"That's a pretty name you have, Marian. My name is Anne Marie." Rogue said. "Here's your ball back." She gave the ball back to the little girl. As she took it from Rogue's hands, their fingers brushed against each other. Rogue almost expected the girl to collapse unconscious but she didn't.

"Thank you, Anne Marie," Marian told her. "You're a nice lady." She looked back as she heard her parents calling her name. "I have to go now. Bye, Anne Marie!" Marian ran back as fast as her legs could carry her, crying happily to her parents as she carried the ball back to them. Rogue watched her, unaware that a tear was running down her face.

"Well, that didn't go so bad, did it?" David asked as he bent down beside her.

"No…it…it was wonderful…" Rogue looked down at her hands. She could touch other people. David stood up and held out both hands to her. This time, she took them without hesitation and allowed him to help her up. Unable to contain her emotions, she hugged David, weeping with joy. He held her in his arms and let her savor the moment. All her life, she waited for this moment. She deserved all the happiness she was feeling inside her.

After a while, Rogue's tears subsided and she let go of him.

"You've got nice hands, Anne Marie," he told her. "And a warm hug."

"Thank you, David," she said, wiping away the last of her tears. She hoped that he didn't notice the blush creeping into her face.

"You're welcome. Are you hungry? I'll spring for lunch." He took her by the hand. This time around, she held onto him gladly.

Theyhad lunch at a hot dog cart that David patronized whenever he was at the park.He ordered two with everything and a couple of sodas for them. Rogue was trying not to spill relish and mustard all over herself while David went off somewhere for a moment after finishing his dog. He returned with his hands behind his back.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," was all Rogue could say. She wiped up a bit of relish and mustard from the corner of her mouth. "What's that you've got?"

"It's a surprise," David said. "Finish your dog and I'll let you have it."

Rogue finally managed to finish her lunch without making a mess of herself. "So what's the surprise?" she wanted to know.

"Close your eyes," David told her. She did as she was told.

"Okay…take a look." Rogue opened her eyes and saw a bunch of flowers in David's hand.

"For you," he said. "This is a special day for you after all."

"Thanks, David," Rogue said, taking the flowers. "They're beautiful."

"So are you," he told her.

"Stop it—you're making me blush," Rogue warned him.

"Hey—you look pretty when you blush and when you smile," David said. "I mean, when I was still working with Professor Xavier, I don't think I ever saw you this happy."

"I guess I had a lot of things on my mind," Rogue admitted. "But today…it feels like I'm no longer closed off from the rest of the world."

David and Rogue spent the rest of the day together. After the park, they went to a quiet little place that David knew and had dinner. Then Rogue agreed to go over to his apartment for a cup of tea.

"This is a cozy little place you've got here," she remarked once they were inside. "Not much stuff, though."

"Considering as how I usually have to leave this place for weeks on end, I decided not to decorate it anymore," David explained. "Besides, I may have to move."

"Again?" Rogue took off her jacket and handed it to him. He hung it from a hook on the door along with his trench coat. "I thought you're retired?"

"Yeah, I am. But sometimes there are jobs that I just can't turn down."

"Got a vase where I can put this so that we can brighten up your place a bit?"

David picked up a clay jar that was standing on a small cabinet. "Let me put some water in this." He headed for the kitchen. After filling his tea kettle, he came back with the jar. "Will this do?"

"Uh-huh," Rogue said. She put the flowers in the jar and arranged them so that their colors would be on full display. "There—like it?"

"It's nice," David said. "You've got a talent for that."

"I had plenty of practice at the school since the garden's full of flowers." She joined him on the sofa, sitting close to him.

"So—how was your day?" he asked with a chuckle.

"It was great, David," she replied. "I had a lovely time. Thanks." She leaned over and did what she never thought she would be able to do: she kissed him on the cheek.

"You're welcome," he said and kissed the back of her hand. She wasn't the only one thinking about Bobby; he and Rogue might be friends, David told himself, but she and Bobby were a couple. He had to be careful with what he did with her.

"So this is what it feels like to be…ordinary," she remarked, putting her head on David's shoulder.

"I never thought I'd actually hear one of Professor Xavier's students call themselves that," he said, putting an arm around her. "But then, you had the hardest time of all with your talent."

"You always called it that, didn't you?" Rogue said.

"Called what that?"

"Instead of calling what mutants have as powers, you call them talents."

"That's what they are," David said. "Like I always say, metahumans are just humans with a few extra letters attached."

"You miss working for SHIELD?" Rogue asked.

"Now and then," David replied "I mean, Colonel Fury's an okay guy to work for most of the time. And at least we weren't out to jail or execute every metahuman on the planet, not like the DMA. The only one I get along with in that agency is Dr. McCoy and thank God he's the boss there or he'd be in trouble for consorting with the likes of me."

"You mean the professor's former student? He was at the school a couple of days ago. He was the one who told us about the cure before they broadcast it over the news."

"Built like a brick house, covered with blue fur, speaks like a shrink?" Rogue nodded at David's description. "That's him. He's a nice guy but I try not to irritate him. I've sparred with him and he's a bruiser."

"Really? He looks like he could beat Logan in a fight."

"Want to hear a secret?"

"What?"

"Wolverine's real name is James Howlett."

Rogue looked David eye-to-eye. "You're kidding."

"Nope," he told her. "It took a lot of research but I found some information on his past. Dr. McCoy knows about it but it's a secret. Don't let either one of them know I told you;they might kill me if I spar with them again."

"I won't," she assured him. "Cross my heart."

He held out his pinky to her. "Hook your little finger around mine."

"Okay…" Rogue did it. "What's this for, David?"

"Well, Anne Marie, it's a little tradition where I come from," David explained. "This is our version of cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die but it isn't as brutal. It's just a guarantee that you won't break your promise."

"I won't," she told him. Their little fingers entwined with one another.

The following morning, Rogue woke up in the bedroom. David wasn't beside her. She looked under the blanket that was covering her and found that she was still dressed. Apparently, she must've fallen asleep sometime the night before and he'd put her to bed. But where was he?

"David?" she called out to him but there was no reply. She got out of bed and began to look for him. He wasn't in the kitchen but there was breakfast waiting for her there. She went to the living room and found a note pinned under the jar of flowers. There were a bunch of keys and a small package next to it.

**_Dear Anne Marie_**, the note read. **_Sorry if I left without telling you. I didn't want to wake you up while you were asleep. You looked too beautiful for me to disturb you, dreaming with a touch of a smile on your face. _**

_**I have to do a little job for Dr. McCoy; I received the message while I was making breakfast for us. He says it's urgent and I believe him from the information that he gave me. Dr. McCoy also told me that he's resigning from the DMA. He's going back to the school so my guess is that something big is coming up and he wants me to play a little part in all of it. **_

_**You can stay in the apartment for as long as you want. There's food and beverages in the fridge, the rent's paid up for a year, and I keep my cash in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. When—and we both know it's WHEN and not IF—you decide to return to the school, you can either leave the keys or take them with you. Personally, I hope you take them with you; that way, whenever you need a place to go to on your own, you'll always have one.**_

_**The package next to the keys is a little gift for you. I know that you've always wanted to be free of your talent so that you could touch other people—Bobby most of all—and I respect that. But if there should ever be a time when you need your talent again, the contents of the package should help. But it's your choice, my friend—it's always your choice. Remember, though—it's a talent. Not a curse like you think it is sometimes.**_

_**I enjoyed our day together, Anne Marie. I wish…well, I wish for a lot of things. But somehow, I find myself being happy with what I receive—even if it's not exactly what I wished for to begin with.**_

_**Take care of yourself, Anne Marie. I hope we can see each other again when I come back and I am coming back, safe and sound like you always tell me. That's a promise.**_

_**Your Friend,**_

_**David**_

Rogue picked up the package and opened it. Through misty eyes, she saw that it was a case with a micro-injector and two cartridges. One looked familiar—it was the anti-mutagen that she'd been given at the clinic. The other one…she checked the tag attached to it: **CONTRA-ANTIMUTAGEN (PULSE GENE BASE)**.

She put the contents of the package back in their case.

_It's your choice, my friend—it's always your choice._

_It's a talent—not a curse._

Rogue wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked around the apartment. Ordinary or otherwise, mutant or not, she knew for certain that she would always have somewhere to go.

And there would always be someone who would be there for her.

* * *


End file.
